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The Physical Web

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Re: The Physical Web

#11

Post by paulojreis »

tree_of_item wrote: post #8
paulojreis wrote: post #4

> "The number of smart devices is going to explode (...)" But why? Why are you/they so sure? Why do we assume that humans will just appropriate any kind of technology thrown at them? I assume this comes from educated tech guys, who are thorough with their work, tools and respective usage. How can they be so lighthearted with the premises which relate to human usage of technology?

I'm not sure what you mean by "appropriating technology". The number of smart devices is going to explode because we want to automate all the things, and collect lots of data. It'd be great if I could ask my stove what food I've eaten this month, how healthy it was, how expensive it was, maybe even tell it to start preparing dinner at a certain time. The way to do that is to put a computer in everything.

> I'm not sure what you mean by "appropriating technology".

People accepting, wanting, using and integrating said technology in everyday life.

> The number of smart devices is going to explode because we want to automate all the things

This is precisely what I'm questioning. "We want"? How can you know that? I believe you want that, I believe that maybe people in your circles do, too. Still, that is no evidence at all to extrapolate that "we want".

Re: The Physical Web

#13

Post by callahad »

Huh, this sounds like it could dovetail beautifully with FirefoxOS's attempt to blur the lines between "native apps" and web content.

It'd probably be pretty easy to have these things show up in an "Ambient" smart collection on the homescreen, or in the universal search pane...

Edit: Looks like you can get this running on an RFDuino (https://github.com/google/physical-web/blob/master/documenta...), which are currently $20 at MicroCenter, and a USB shield is $25. Still 2 in stock in the Twin Cities, if anyone else is interested!

Edit 2: ...Though, it looks like FxOS doesn't currently support BLE (https://wiki.mozilla.org/B2G/Bluetooth#Unsupported_Bluetooth...), so this may not be the most useful path at the moment. :)

Re: The Physical Web

#14

Post by cdnsteve »

Meh, we need AI to understand API interfaces automatically and can communicate together seamlessly, without any hard coding. That's when device to device integration gets REALLY interesting. Wait, isn't this just bluetooth + web?

Re: The Physical Web

#15

Post by nine_k »

paulojreis wrote: post #11
tree_of_item wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure what you mean by "appropriating technology". The number of smart devices is going to explode because we want to automate all the things, and collect lots of data. It'd be great if I could ask my stove what food I've eaten this month, how healthy it was, how expensive it was, maybe even tell it to start preparing dinner at a certain time. The way to do that is to put a computer in everything.

> I'm not sure what you mean by "appropriating technology". People accepting, wanting, using and integrating said technology in everyday life. > The number of smart devices is going to explode because we want to automate all the things This is precisely what I'm questioning. "We want"? How can you know that? I believe you want that, I believe that maybe people in your circles do, too. Still, that is no evidence at al…

There's an easy way to check: let's see what sells.

Last time I checked, mildly smart home "robots", like automatic cookers, dishwashers, washing machines, even vacuum cleaners sold rather well, and were widely adopted. The smart devices, paradoxically, liberate you from thinking about dull details: you just put some clothes into a washing machine, press a button explaining approximately what type of clothes are there, and walk away. The machine figures the rest.

This is a type of liberation people seem to actually like.

Also, people usually don't like uncertainty puzzling new experiences. Letting people on a stop see where the bus is does make people happier. (Myself I use a mobile web site that shows real-time position of NYC buses, and can attest to that.) If you walk into an unfamiliar store, especially abroad, it could take some time to find simplest items like a bottle of water. If there was a more-or-less unified 'online' interface for finding things in this particular store on your phone, it would make many tourists happier.

Re: The Physical Web

#17

Post by webXL »

cdnsteve wrote: post #14

Meh, we need AI to understand API interfaces automatically and can communicate together seamlessly, without any hard coding. That's when device to device integration gets REALLY interesting. Wait, isn't this just bluetooth + web?

I think having the AI to accomplish that would be the really interesting bit. That makes a lot more technological advancements possible. And yes, this is just finding new applications for the web and expanding its value/reach.

Re: The Physical Web

#18

Post by jpindar »

paulojreis wrote: post #11
tree_of_item wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure what you mean by "appropriating technology". The number of smart devices is going to explode because we want to automate all the things, and collect lots of data. It'd be great if I could ask my stove what food I've eaten this month, how healthy it was, how expensive it was, maybe even tell it to start preparing dinner at a certain time. The way to do that is to put a computer in everything.

> I'm not sure what you mean by "appropriating technology". People accepting, wanting, using and integrating said technology in everyday life. > The number of smart devices is going to explode because we want to automate all the things This is precisely what I'm questioning. "We want"? How can you know that? I believe you want that, I believe that maybe people in your circles do, too. Still, that is no evidence at al…

People and businesses are paying money - sometimes a great deal of money - for smart devices. That's a pretty good indication that they want them.

Re: The Physical Web

#19

Post by tarikozket »

Oh, now iBeacons(https://developer.apple.com/ibeacon/) will make more sense. Let's implement iBeacons to vending machines and also to other machines, then use Pushmote(https://pushmote.com) to manage interactions from cloud and import Pushmote SDK into operating systems or Chrome natively. Sounds great. :)
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